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Nourishing Mothers-to-Be and Babies-to-Come

By Michael McBurney

Babies are beautiful. How amazing that a fertilized egg can transform over 9 months into a wiggling, sometimes screaming, little being! After birth, it seems like the parental challenges of feeding, comforting, and nurturing begin but maternal nutrition has already had a major developmental impact.

Increased folate levels in women during the first trimester of pregnancy is associated with reduced risk of birth defects. Maternal folate status may affect the risk of a preterm birth. Chen and colleagues measured plasma concentrations of folate, vitamins B6 and B12, in maternal blood at the beginning of the third trimester (gestational weeks 26-28) in 999 women of Chinese, Malay and Indian descent living in Singapore. Only 3% were folate deficient (< 6.8 nmol/L) and 11% marginally deficient (< 13.6 nmol/L), presumably because 90% were using folate-containing supplements. Despite good folate status, higher folate concentrations were associated with lower risk of short gestational age and lower risk of premature birth.

In summary, good nutrition results in healthy pregnancies. Folic acid is an essential nutrient for normal child development. McNulty and others recommend continued supplementation with 400 µg folic acid daily in the 2nd and 3rd trimesters to help maintain normal maternal homocysteine levels.